Plymouth 1620Pilgrims and Puritans

What are we learning today?

Today, we are learning about another group that came to the New World from England in 1620. This group that we will learn about today is the Pilgrims.

Pilgrims Come to AmericaIn the mid 1600s, a religious group called the Separatists tried to separate from the church of England. They wanted religious freedom.

You are forbidden to worship

anything other than the what the church of England

says you can

I want to worship as I please

Pilgrims Upset With The KingReligion was a big deal in England and the King of England punished people who did not follow the official church. The separatists who wanted to separate from the church of England were forbidden to worship in public. If they did they could be arrested, beaten or even sentenced to death.

Pilgrims Try to Escape England The Pilgrims were a part of the Separatists. They were tired of the harsh treatment and wanted to escape England. They wanted to be able to practice their religion freely.

Pilgrims ask to go to VirginiaEventually the Pilgrims went to the Virginia Company and asked if they could settle in America and start their own colony under the protection of the Virginia Company.

Can we come to America to practice

our religion?

The Virginia Company says Ok

In 1618, the Virginia Company agreed to help the Pilgrims get to America and settle in on the company’s land.

I don’t care if the pilgrims come to

America

The MayflowerAfter two years and several setbacks, the Pilgrims finally boarded a ship called the Mayflower that was to take them across the Atlantic Ocean to America.

The Mayflower Deconstructed

Watch this video to get the answers for #11

The Mayflower• Originally there were two ships the Mayflower and

the smaller Speedwell. However, after a few miles out they had to turn back because something was wrong with the Speedwell. Everyone decided to get on the Mayflower making it crowded, dark and cramped.

What Did the Pilgrims Eat? During the Mayflower's voyage, the Pilgrims main diet would have consisted primarily (mostly) of hard biscuits, salt pork, dried meats including cow tongue, various pickled foods, oatmeal and other cereal grains, and fish.  The primary beverage for everyone, including children, was beer.

Aboard the ShipNot only was the ship dark, wet and cramped. The ceiling of the ship was only about 5 feet tall so everyone had to hunch over. People went to the bathroom in buckets and often got sea sick. For two months, the Pilgrims lived like this aboard the Mayflower.

Atlantic Storms Hit

The first month across the Atlantic went fairly smoothly. However, during late November several Atlantic storms began to hit the Mayflower. The strong winds tore through the sails and pushed the Mayflower far north of its intended location.

Off Course• On the early morning of November 9, 1620,

the Mayflower's crew spotted land.  It was the first land they had seen in more than two months. However, the Pilgrims aboard the ship knew that they had landed outside the limits of the Virginia Company’s charter. Oh no…this

isn’t where we wanted to land

The Mayflower Compact

Since the Pilgrims knew they needed a way to keep order and create laws the men aboard the ship developed what has become known as the Mayflower Compact.

We need to agree on rules

The Mayflower CompactThe men created the compact (contract) by writing down on a large sheet of paper simple rules/laws that they all could all agree upon. They all agreed that these laws were for the good of the colony and must be obeyed. All 41 men signed the Mayflower compact.

By signing your name you are agreeing to obey these rules and do whatever is best for

the Plymouth colony

The Mayflower Compact

The mayflower compact is important because it established the idea of self government and majority rule. Self government is where people create laws for themselves and majority rule is the idea that whatever the most people want is what will happen.

But I don’t want to…

Too bad… We are the majority

The Pilgrims Land

The Pilgrims had landed in Cape Cod Massachusetts, an area that John Smith had mapped and named New England. The Pilgrims named their new colony (town) Plymouth after the town they left in England.

We will call this Plymouth

Thank God we can have religious freedom

Building Plymouth 1620Right away the Pilgrims went to work building their colony in Massachusetts. However the soil was poor and rocky and little grew there. Furthermore, the harsh New England winter came quickly. The Pilgrims were not ready.

Plymouth, Massachusetts 1620

Starving Time in PlymouthLike the early settlers in Jamestown, the Pilgrims at Plymouth also went through a starving time. Everyone was sick, weak, cold and hungry. Half of the group had died by spring.

SamosetHowever, in the Spring the Pilgrims were approached by an English speaking Native American named Samoset. Samoset introduced the Pilgrims to Squanto, who also spoke English.

I speak English and we can

help you

SquantoSquanto acted as an interpreter between the Pilgrims and his tribe the Massasiot. The Native Americans began sharing their agricultural (farming) practices. In exchange for teaching the Pilgrims how to plant crops, hunt and fish, the Pilgrims traded what little they had.

We have to teach these pilgrims our agricultural

(farming) practices

Thank you for showing us what to

do

The Pilgrims CelebrateSometime in the fall, the Pilgrims held a celebration for the blessings of a good harvest. Thanks to Squanto, the Pilgrims were surviving in their new environment. This celebration would become known as Thanksgiving.

Path Across the Atlantic

• http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/voyage/journey.htm